Immune regulation of skeletal muscle

Pedro Sousa-Victor

Instituto de Medicina Molecular de Lisboa, Portugal

Ageing is a risk factor for developing metabolic diseases and their associated cardiovascular complications. Exercise is crucial for keeping this group of pathologies at bay, but it has been shown that some forms of exercise are not as effective in old age as they are in earlier stages of life.

Research over the last decade has shown a close relationship between these metabolic disorders and increased inflammation throughout the body, which is associated with a dysfunctional immune system. Until recently, studies focused on understanding what happens to immune cells during the onset of metabolic disease in old age have focused on the adipose tissue. Recent work has pointed to the potential role of immune cells in regulating the metabolic health of skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscle is one of the body’s most energy-consuming tissues and organs, which explains the importance of exercise in treating metabolic diseases like obesity, overweight and type 2 diabetes. The problem is that the ability of muscle to respond to resistance exercise declines with age.

This project aims to study the changes that occur in the immune system during ageing that lead to metabolic disease and an inefficient response to exercise in skeletal muscle in older individuals. The objective is to design new interventions aimed at modulating the immune response in this muscle, thereby improving its metabolic health and response to exercise in the elderly population.

Immune regulation of skeletal muscle metabolic health and exercise response in ageing

€499,835.60

*Project awarded in collaboration with the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnología